E-Crime Awareness

E-Crime Fraud & Awareness

What is E-Crime?

Electronic or E-Crime involves the use of electronic devices, such as computers

In line with modern technological advances, E-crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex, with offenders hacking into computer systems or using stolen credit cards to carry out Internet transactions.

Businesses and individuals are equally at risk of E-crime both at home and in the workplace.

The main areas involved in E-crime are:

Breaches of Security and Privacy: This may include theft of equipment or data, unauthorised use of personal or sensitive information and viruses.

Fraudulent Transactions: This may include the use of stolen credit cards or dealing with bogus companies.

Why does it happen?

Breaches in security and a lack of awareness are the fundamental causes of E-crime. Many people unwittingly create opportunities for offenders by not keeping up to date with the ever-changing technology on the marketplace.

Sharing personal information, passwords and other data may also lead to serious lapses in security resulting in fraudulent activity.

What can you do?

Computer security : It's vital to secure your computer and allow password access only. The most important part of the computer is the hard drive, which stores all your data.
It's important to develop and implement appropriate system failure procedures, also known as data backup. This can be done easily by transferring your data on to a floppy disk, CD Rom, zip drive or the main server if you have one.
Keep the serial numbers of all your computer equipment (separate from the hard drive) in a safe place.

Data Security : More and more businesses and individuals are taking advantage of computer technology as it becomes more widely available and affordable.

This has led to an increase of unauthorised use of data, such as confidential, personal or sensitive information and theft of data for commercial purposes.

It's important to safeguard your data at all times by ensuring:

A firewall is installed

A virus protection programme is installed and regularly updated

Data files and listings are secured and shredded when they are no longer required

Security violation reports are reviewed and investigated

Keep reviewing your data security, especially when a staff member leaves or there are staff changes in your organisation. Simple steps you can take include making sure:

Only password access is allowed

Only authorised employees are given access to data

Data access is cancelled promptly when it is no longer required by a staff member or they leave

Passwords

Poor password security is a major cause of computer fraud. Store your passwords and other personal information on a separate storage device rather than on the computer's hard-drive.

Don't share identification numbers and passwords

Change passwords on a regular basis

Data files and listings are secured and shredded when they are no longer required

When choosing a password, select a combination of capital letters, lower case and numbers

Internet Transactions

The use of the Internet for buying and selling goods, banking transactions and purchasing digital (non-tangible) products is increasing.